Abrams Talks "Trek"

It's been awhile since we've heard anything about "Star Trek." But now, J.J. Abrams, the man behind "Lost," "Alias," and "Cloverfield" and director of the new "Star Trek" feature comes out to say a few words on his vision for the legendary franchise.

From Yahoo News:

"It was an opportunity to take what I think has been a maligned world — to sound crass, a franchise — and treat it in a way that made it something that I wanted to see. To take the characters, the thoughtfulness, the personalities, the sense of adventure, the idea of humanity working together, the sense of social commentary and innovation, all that stuff. To take it and apply it in a way that felt genuinely thrilling.

The whole point was to try to make this movie for fans of movies, not fans of `Star Trek,' necessarily," Abrams continued. "If you're a fan, we've got one of the writers who's a devout Trekker, so we were able to make sure we were serving the people who are completely enamored with `Star Trek.' But we are not making the movie for that contingent alone.

You can't really make a movie for them. As soon as you start to guess what you think they are going to want to see, you're in trouble. You have to make the movie in many ways for what you want to see yourself, make a movie you believe in. Then you're not second-guessing an audience you don't really have an understanding of.

I feel like this is so unlike what you expect, so unlike the `Star Trek' you've seen. At the same time, it's being true to what's come before, honoring it. I can say the effects for `Star Trek' have never, ever been done like this. ... I can only tell you the idea of the universe of `Star Trek' has never been given this kind of treatment."


Brave words, and ones I totally agree with. I love the bit he said about making a movie you believe in. After being responsible for one of the best television series of the decade ("Lost"), reinventing the giant monster genre ("Cloverfield") and giving us a "Mission: Impossible" movie with actual thrills, I'm going to go ahead and say this is probably going to be one of the most enthralling Star Trek movies ever. He's got the track record and he speaks with a great deal of confidence. I like that. It gives me confidence. None of this George Lucas, fans-won't-like-it, bull crap. Take it all Abrams! Do whatever the hell you want with it!